


Relocation

by yamina_chan



Series: Handplates Ukagaka Timelines [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Gen, Handplates, Meta, Other, Read at Your Own Risk, ukagaka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 14:23:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14310633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yamina_chan/pseuds/yamina_chan
Summary: - Based on Zarla’s Handplates AU and the little Gaster Ukagaka.





	Relocation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zarla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zarla/gifts).



> Warning: This story contains spoilers for Zarla's Handplates AU. More specifically, it contains spoilers for her Gaster Ukagaka Desktop Buddy. This story assumes that you are familiar with both. If you are not, I would advise you to come back at a later point and not read this right now. This is also a rayor story. You have thus been warned.
> 
> This is based on a lot of the comments I’ve seen from people about the Gaster Ghost. Specifically their opinions about him and the brothers and what they would like to do.

They had been given a lot of rules over time. Things they should and should not do, what was allowed and what was not. Some of these rules were more flexible than others and they would often try to find out where their boundaries were. Not because they actively set out to break them, no. Just because they wanted to know how far they could push.  
  
Among the rules were a few special ones. Those that had never exactly been explained to them but were without doubt ones that allowed for no negotiation whatsoever. One of these rules was ‘ _If the lights are out then it is time to sleep_ ’.  
  
So when the beams in front of their cell flared to life even though the lights were off, subject 2 was understandably surprised.  
  
He had only just woken up and his brother had yet to show any signs of waking himself.  
Normally when he found the room still dark he would simply close his eyes and doze a bit more. He did not want to disturb the dreams of the smaller skeleton after all. Not until it was time for them to start the day at least.  
His brother seemed to need the sleep so he did not mind waiting for him to wake up on his own, even if it meant remaining quiet with nothing to do.  
  
Now, however, he could only stare in bafflement at the person on the other side of the beams. They regarded each other in silence for a moment. Then subject 2 spoke up, trying to keep his voice as low as possible.  
  
“HELLO! YOU ARE EARLY TODAY! OR IS IT STILL YESTERDAY?”  
  
His only response were more silence and the flickering shadows playing catch with each other as the beams shifted in intensity, weary of the presence nearby. Subject 2 tilted his head in confusion. Maybe he was still dreaming himself? But just then there was movement on the other side and the beams vanished.  
  
“Wake him and come with me. We do not have much time.”  
  
“BUT THE LIGHTS-”  
  
“Don’t tarry. Do as you are told.”  
  
There was something off about his voice and the way he was standing. It was hard to tell in the darkness but subject 2 suspected that _he_ had just come back from that other place again. He would always act strange after that. Sometimes he would be weird all day after that, occasionally even the next day. And subject 2 didn’t really want to make his mood worse by getting into an argument. So he woke his brother - much to 1’s annoyance - and both of them left their cell to follow him down the hallway.  
  
Subject 1 was just as confused as 2. But he was tired as well. And thus less worried about _his_ feelings as a result.  
  
“ why are we runnin’ around at this time? it’s gotta be way early”, he inquired, not bothering to hide the fact that he was yawning.  
  
“There are preparations that need to be done. Hurry now.”  
  
The brothers shared a look but complied. They followed _him_ to his workroom with the desk and shelves full of binders they were not allowed to play with. The moment they entered the lights jumped to life, causing both of them to shield their eyes in startled surprise.  
  
After they had adjusted themself to the change subject 2 turned to glance at _him_ again. His first impression had been right, after all. It was so much more obvious in the light.  
  
“ Stay in here. I need to get a few things. It won’t take long.”  
  
The tall skeleton was gone before either of them could ask for more information. 2 turned towards his brother. Under other circumstances he would have suggested a game. His ‘ _It won’t take long_ ’ could be anywhere from a really short time to a really long time, but so far the day had not started out as it normally would. They had not even been given anything to eat before _he_ took them out of their cell! Subject 1 simply shrugged. Apparently he didn’t know what to make of the situation either.  
  
It turned out that _It won’t take long_ was indeed of the shorter variety this time, as he returned moments later, carrying a box that he placed in front of them. Curiosity piqued, subject 2 took a peek inside of it. It was empty, much to his disappointment.  
  
“ what are you doing?”  
  
Subject 2 turned his head just in time to step aside as _he_ placed a bunch of papers with strange marks on them into the box.  
  
“ As I said, there are preparations that need to be done. Pay attention when you are told something.”  
  
His voice was as flat as ever, but Subject 2 did not miss the slight trembling in his hands.  
  
“WHAT ARE YOU PREPARING FOR? CAN WE HELP?”  
  
He hesitated at that for a moment but gave no answer. The brothers watched as _he_ shuffled over to his binders and began looking through the pages in one of them. Only then did he speak up.  
  
“ I have acquired certain informations that require action on my part. I have anticipated this potential outcome, though I had expected to have more time.”  
  
He paused to remove a page from the binder and reached for a new one.  
  
“My calculations did appear to be incomplete last time and while I am confident that I have the correct results now I would have liked to test my theory first. But after what they said…” He trailed off and his entire posture seemed to change. Then he closed the binder with a little more force then it seemed necessary.  
  
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t distract me.”  
  
Subject 2 was confused. That didn’t really answer his question. And he had just outright ignored his other question again! That was not fair.  
  
“then why’d you have to wake us up already if you don’t want us around?” came the complaint from his brother. This time they got no answer at all.  
  
The brothers found a place near the wall and sat down, pouting. They began to play a game of pretend to busy themself, though both boys were peering at _him_ at all times, watchful eyes noticing each thing that went into the box. Most of them were papers, but there were a few other items they did not recognize.  
Occasionally he would leave the room and return with another set of seemingly random things. Little constructions made of metal, a sealed jar, papers in other sizes and colors, a selection of his wooden puzzles, an opaque bag filled with things they could not see...  
When he returned with a blanked half hung over his shoulder and a small number of water bottles in his arms it seemed that the box had finally reached its capacity.  
It took some readjusting on _his_ part but eventually the bottles had found a spot among the remaining items. He folded the blanket - once, twice - and draped it over the box; hiding it’s bizarre selection from immediate view.  
  
After that, his task was apparently complete as he simply stood there motionless staring into the distance. Subject 2 tried to think of a word that would match his expression then but he could not think something that seemed to fit.  
The brothers went back to their game.  
This seemed to catch his attention. He blinked, glanced at them and left the room mumbling under his breath.  
  
It took a little while for him to return this time, but when he did he made his way directly to the brothers.  
  
“ Here.”  
  
They looked up. He was holding two bowls with food.  
The brothers stared at it in bewilderment.  
  
“you’re letting us eat _here_? i thought you didn’t want us eatin’ in your work rooms? ”  
  
Subjects 1’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.  
  
“is this a test?”  
  
“WHY WOULD HE HAVE US TEST FOOD BROTHER, DON’T BE RIDICULOUS.”  
  
Subject 2 tried to sound confident in that, but he was just as astonished as the smaller skeleton. _He_ simply continued to hold out the bowls to them.  
  
“ If you are hungry, eat.”  
  
“is this a test?” Subject 1 insisted and made no movement to take the food. _His_ expression did not change and yet Subject 2 could not help but feel like it did.  
  
“ No.”  
  
There was no annoyance there, no impatience or frustration. Nothing in his tone indicated that he was displeased with them in any way. And he hadn’t been talking to them like he did when he send them back to their cell or when he really wanted to do some important science with them when they would rather play or when he told them not to do something.  
  
And yet it felt like he really, really needed them to eat now.  
  
Subject 2 took one of the bowls. His brother seemed skeptical but did the same. The tall skeleton immediately turned around made his way over to the desk with the computer and began to type.  
  
The brothers shared one more puzzled look before they shrugged and began to eat.  
They were hungry, after all. And while this was somewhat out of the ordinary, it was not unusual that he had them do things that didn’t make sense to them and didn’t feel the need to explain the reasoning behind it.  
  
They had barely finished their meal when he approached them again.  
Both of them looked up.  
He was holding something. Something yellow that had been lying on his desk and that they had previously ignored and regarded as just one of the random things he had been carrying around today for unknown reasons. It looked like a crinkly blanket of some kind, but it was way more shiny. Almost as if it were made of plastic.  
A bit like the weird cover that he used in the room with the tubes.  
Hadn’t they learned a word for that? Subject 2 tried to remember. What was it again? Tar-something? Tarpluian? Tralupin? Tarpaulin? He just didn’t know.  
His thoughts were interrupted however when he pulled the yellow thing apart and it turned out that it in fact where two things.  
  
“Stand up.” He glanced at the brothers, then at the things he was holding and continued in a quieter tone, as if talking to himself like he sometimes did. “They probably won’t fit right, but it should do…”  
  
Subject 2 got up first and came closer to inspect the not-blanket curiously.  
  
“WHAT ARE THESE?”  
  
He snapped his attention back to them.  
  
“They are called Rain Capes.” He held one out to Subject 2 who took it without hesitation. Subject 1 came closer and took the other one.  
  
“RAIN CAPES?”, 2 asked.  
  
“what do we need these for?” 1 asked at the same time.  
  
“They are a simple precautionary measure. Put them on.”  
  
_He_ made a movement as if to put his hands into the pockets of his coat as he sometimes did, but when the brothers unfolded the yellow capes and didn’t know what to do next he sighed and took charge; helping them get dressed like he would with their gowns.

When they were done, the brothers took to poking each other in their strange, new outfits. Nearly their entire bodies were hidden, even their skulls had been covered by a ‘hood’ as he had called it. The capes were heavy and felt strange to the touch. And they made a strange sound when they moved around in them too.  
  
_He_ observed them for a moment, as they explored their changed looks and then nodded as if he was approving something.  
  
Subject 2 ran a hand over his arm, welcoming the sensation of the peculiar material on his bones.  
It was different. The new and exciting kind of different. He had to treasure this moment.  
A familiar heaviness on his soul prompted him to divert his attention back to him.  
  
“ That will be enough. Follow me, we have a schedule to uphold.”  
  
_He_ bent down to pick up the box of random things. A barely audible groan escaped him but then he stood tall and managed to carry it seemingly with no further problems.  
The brothers followed him dutifully.  
Not that they had any choice in the matter, to be fair, but Subject 2 was eager to learn what their new attire was supposed to do. And by the looks of it his brother was just as interested in this. It was more difficult to glance at him with their hoods in the way and subject 2 had to turn his head to see the facial expression of his brother. They really narrowed down their vision.  
  
‘ _OH_ ’, 2 wondered. ‘ _MAYBE HE IS GOING TO TEST OUR EYES AGAIN?_ ’  
  
That was a possibility. He had given them some tests for that in the past and all were very diverse. Subject 2 had never exactly reached the best results in those. But he was okay with the prospect of doing some more. They were not his favourite by any means and not exactly the sort he was best at either, but if they had to do some tests, then eye tests were still not as bad or as boring as some other ones.  
  
Much to his surprise they were not going to one of the rooms he knew. _He_ was leading them further down the hallway then he ever had before and through more doores and other rooms he hadn’t seen yet. He would have liked to look around a little more, but the tug on his soul reminded him to keep walking. Maybe when they got back.  
The next door opened and 1 made a startled sound. Hastily 2 turned his attention back to where they were going. Beyond this door was a new kind of lighting. Subject 2 had to squint his eye sockets for a moment but after they stepped through the door his sight adapted fairly quickly.  
  
But where his sight settled down, his wonder grew.  
  
“ WHAT IS THIS ROOM?” 2 eagerly turned his head. This looked nothing like the other rooms he knew. It was a lot bigger and a lot more open. The next walls seemed impossibly far away and the ground beneath them was limited to a narrow path above something colorful that seemed to move. Even the wall colors were different here!  
Subject 1 came closer to his brothers side; wary but just as fascinated.  
  
“yeah, what is this place? is this outside?”  
  
“OH!” Subject 2 beamed at the thought of that possibility. “IS THAT TRUE? ARE WE OUTSIDE NOW? ARE YOU TAKING US OUTSIDE? FOR REAL?”  
  
_He_ slowed his pace but did not turn around to them as he spoke.  
  
“ Right now you two are outside of the lab, yes. This is why I gave you the rain capes you are wearing right now. They should hide the fact that you two are skeletons somewhat from curious eyes. At least from a distance. It was… the best option available to me that I could obtain on short notice.”  
  
Subject 2 nearly tumbled over his own feet in excitement. Outside! They were really outside! How long had they wanted this? It didn’t quite look like he had expected, but that didn’t matter. They were outside!  
If the path had not been as narrow and if they hadn’t been told to follow he would have run ahead to see what outside was like or at the very least he would have jumped in excitement. Subject 1 instead just stared with wide eye sockets and did not move until the tug on his soul prompted him forward.  
  
“are you serious?” The surprise and disbelief in his voice were equally strong. He clearly hadn’t expected that his guess had been right. His eyes shone with a new curiosity.  
  
“OH BROTHER THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!” Subject 2 gave the smaller skeleton a big hug who reflexively hugged back.  
  
This time _he_ did turn around to them with a strained expression. The box must have been heavier then it looked. He spoke up before Subject 2 could offer to help carry some of it.  
  
“ Keep your voices down. I doubt that we should run into any other monsters at this hour but I would ask that you don’t draw unnecessary attention regardless. Now quiet down and watch where you are going. If you are careless, you will fall.”  
  
The reprimand did nothing to dampen their spirits and the brothers followed with quick steps, swinging their arms and eagerly looking around. For the most part nothing changed much, but even so, everything was _different_ here.  
  
They walked for a long time, at least 12 times as long as it would take them to go from their cell to the room with the tubes, Subject 2 mused. His brother argued that it must have been a lot more than that already and began to make up a math equation for it but he did not get to finish. _He_ had stopped in front of a metal door on one of the many gigantic steel joists they had occasionally walked past. The brothers watched as he placed the box on the ground and then took something out of his coat and did something to the door with it before it opened. He turned to face them.  
  
“ Go in.”  
  
They peered inside. The soft glow of a light on the ceiling presented them with a mostly empty room, roughly the size of their cell. The left wall held a box with colorful buttons and a rapidly blinking bulb attached to its side. The right one was broken up by a grid in the upper corner that sealed of access to a pipe of some kind, just a little larger than the size of their arms. They could hear the familiar hum of electricity and a ventilation system from somewhere. But that was all there was to this room.  
  
Subject 1 looked up at _him_.  
  
“ now what is _this_ place? and what are we supposed to do here? ”  
  
“You will wait here and not touch anything”, came the reply as the taller skeleton picked up the box again and carried it inside the room, motioning for them to follow.  
  
Their smiles fell.  
  
“AWW, BUT I THOUGHT WE GOT TO GO OUTSIDE. ARE WE MOVING TO A NEW CELL?”  
  
He paused, then shook his head and placed the box on the floor.  
  
“No. This is temporary. You won’t have to stay here.”  
  
“but then why are we here? why take us outside all the way when we’re just gonna stay in another room? this isn’t fair, you-”  
  
“I don’t have time to discuss this with you, Subject 1”, he chided and beckoned them inside a second time. Dejectedly they followed.  
  
“OH WELL. AT LEAST WE GOT TO SEE SOME OF OUTSIDE. ARE WE GONNA SEE MORE OF IT LATER?”  
  
Subject 2 turned to _him_ expectedly but to his surprise the taller skeleton averted his gaze.  
  
They waited for a moment to see if he would give them an answer, but he did not. Instead he gestured vaguely towards the box and avoided looking at them at all when he spoke up.  
  
“ You will have to wait in here for quite a while. A lot longer than you are used too. The paper bag contains food. Eat when you are hungry but don’t take it all at once. It will need to last you for… some time. The same goes for the water. You may use the blanket and the puzzles in the box if you wish, but do not take out anything else. Once I leave and close the door, you two need to be as quiet as possible until the door opens again. Do you understand?”  
  
2 turned towards his brother. After a moment of hesitation the smaller skeleton nodded with a frown.  
  
“you still haven’t said why you’re doin’ any of this.”  
  
“It doesn't matter.”  
  
“DO WE REALLY HAVE TO STAY HERE? CAN’T WE GO WITH YOU AND SEE SOME MORE OF OUTSIDE? PLEASE?”  
  
“No. You will stay in here and wait until you will be collected.”  
  
“and what if we don’t do what you said?”  
  
Finally he turned to look at them again. Subject 2 winced at the look he gave them now, as did his brother. They had pushed past his patience.  
  
“Then it will only be to your own disservice. Do as you are told, this is not a matter that is open for negotiation, Subject 1.”  
  
_He_ made towards the exit and went to shut the door.  
But he didn’t.  
Instead, he stood there and looked at them. And again, his expression had changed.  
He opened his mouth as if to say something but no sound came forth.  
  
Something about the look on his face tore at 2’s soul and he wanted to rush forward and hold the other skeleton and tell him to stay here.  
He made it half a step. _He_ did not want them to touch him.  
  
“ WELL… SEE YOU LATER! WE’LL BE GOOD. RIGHT, BROTHER?”  
  
2 looked to his side, hoping to find comfort in his brother, to stop this sudden feeling of… whatever it was that he was feeling now. But 1 looked just as distressed.  
  
“sure.”  
  
At last, _he_ nodded.  
  
“ I suppose you will.”  
  
And the door fell shut.  
  


* * *

  
Subject 2 had no real way of knowing how long they had been in this new room now. They still had a full bottle of water and some of the crispy brown food things that had been in the bag, so that was not much of a concern. But it had been long, so long, since they had heard the sound of the door close on them.  
  
At first they had explored this room. Not that there was much to explore, but they still looked in case they had missed something initially.  
They stayed clear from the metal box however. They had been instructed long ago to never touch similar ones unless they were explicitly given the permission.  
They came to the conclusion that there was nothing to miss in here quickly and had turned to playing with the blanket and puzzles from the box until they had their first meal.  
Then they had played some more until their second meal. And then they had fallen asleep in here, despite the light above them still shining.  
  
The light had not gone out since they had entered this room, it was impossible to tell when they were supposed to sleep. So they slept when they were tired, ate when they were hungry and played when they were bored.  
But it had been a while now and as fun as some of the games they had come up with here were, with nothing to break up the pattern and nowhere to go even they had lost some of their appeal.  
  
At some point after their 5th meal Subject 1 had began to inspect the other items in the box and even though 2 felt bad at going against his demand to not do that, he was curious too. But there was not much to be learned. The papers were filled with symbols made up of lines in various angles. 1 said at least one of the papers had what looked like a maths equation of some kind, but with the strange symbols it was hard to tell.  
The other objects in the box were interesting but did not provide them with much insight either. They could not ask _him_ what they did and were left to their own speculations.  
  
_He_ had not come back yet. Not once.  
There had been no tests in the entire time they were here.  
  
2 could feel 1 nuzzle closer to himself as the smaller skeleton shifted his position.  
They had discarded their Rain Capes two meals ago and were now sitting on the blanket near the wall opposite of the door. They wanted to see the moment it would open again.  
  
“ do you think he abandoned us?”, Subject 1 asked suddenly. 2 blinked, startled.  
  
“WHAT? WHY WOULD YOU THINK SOMETHING LIKE THAT?”  
  
“why shouldn’t i?” Subject 1 shifted around some more. “he’s never been gone _that_ long before. i don’t think he’s comin’ back.”  
  
“ WELL… IT’S TRUE, THIS IS A REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME… BUT HE SAID THAT IT WOULD BE LONG WHEN HE BROUGHT US HERE. I AM SURE HE WILL COME.”  
  
“maybe.” A pause. “or maybe not. maybe he had enough of us.”  
  
“BROTHER, DON’T THINK LIKE THAT. YOU WILL SEE, HE WILL COME BACK AND GET US AND MAYBE WE GET TO SEE MORE OF OUTSIDE THEN!”  
  
Subject 1 didn’t reply immediately. 2 looked at his brother, worried. Partially because his brother was starting to get restless in here and partially because he was worried as well.  
It _had_ been long. So long.  
  
“ what do you think is takin’ him so long then?”  
  
“UHM, WELL…” 2 scratched his skull, uncertain how to respond to this question. He was wondering the same thing, after all. “MAYBE… MAYBE HE GOT REALLY BUSY AND KNEW HE COULD NOT COME SEE US AND THAT IS WHY HE GAVE SO MANY RATIONS OF FOOD AND WATER AND SOME PUZZLES TO DO?”  
  
“hm.”  
  
They sat in silence for a while, only the familiar hum of electricity and machines working behind the walls that they could not see were to be heard.  
Eventually 1 spoke up again.  
  
“do you think he was going to that place again? the bad one?”  
  
2 tensed.  
  
“IF HE DID I AM SURE HE IS FINE. HE IS THE STRONGEST MONSTER THERE IS.”  
  
“i know but you’ve seen him too.”  
  
“...YES…”  
  
And again, they sat in silence. Each of them lost in their own thoughts wondering about his fate and their own.  
  
“WELL”, 2 sat up to give his voice more confidence. “I THINK HE-”  
  
“shh!” 1 interrupted and sat up as well, staring intently at the door. Then 2 heard it as well. Footsteps. Footsteps coming closer. He barely remembered in time that they had been told to be quiet in here. He drew his brother close and felt the smaller one reach for his hand. Both of them were fixated on the door.  
The sound of footsteps stopped right in front of it. They held their breath. A moment later the door slid open and they blinked at the sudden increase in light. A startled sound came from the other side of the door and they managed to make out the shape of a monster standing just outside of the room.  
  
  
It was not him. 

 

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**Author's Note:**

> This was one of the hardest stories to write. Not because it was especially challenging, but rather… as much as I WANTED to write it, I also DIDN’T want this to happen.  
> But this is the way it had to go.  
> Anyway, any feedback or constructive criticism is welcome! I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions.  
> And do not hesitate to point out grammar or spelling mistakes if you find any. English is not my first language and I would be surprised if there aren't any mistakes that slipped through.


End file.
